DC Mayor says unvaccinated students will have no virtual instruction, leaving out 40% of black students



Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, confirmed Thursday that there were no virtual instruction options for unvaccinated students which would leave about 40% of black students without any schooling at all.

Bowser was speaking to reporters in a media briefing when she made the comments.

“They can go to school on Monday. But they need to get their vaccinations," she said, "and their families will be alerted as to the dates.”

When pressed about online instruction being available to unvaccinated students, Bowser admitted there would be no such opportunity.

“We’re not offering remote learning for children, and families will need to comply with what is necessary to come to school," said Bowser.

Bowser had been previously confronted by a reporter about the large numbers of black students who remain unvaccinated, and she claimed that the numbers were inaccurate.

"Around 40% of black students in the district are unvaccinated and, therefore, under the district's current policy regarding schools, will be unable to attend school," said Daily Signal reporter Douglas Blair. "Why is the district continuing with this policy when it seems to disproportionately impact black students?"

"I don't think that number is correct," replied the mayor. "We have substantially fewer number of kids that we have to engage with vaccination. And I explained why it's important. It's important for the public health of our students and that we can maintain safe environments."

However, those statistics came directly from Bowser's office.

Earlier in August, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased the social distancing guidance for schools by saying that children exposed to the virus no longer had to test positive before returning to in-person instruction. They also said that they would no longer recommend schools avoid mixing groups of children.

Here's more about the order from Bowser:

School Masking Policies in DC, Maryland and Virginia: What you need to know | FOX 5 DCwww.youtube.com

Washington public school requires student-athletes to wear ankle monitors to ensure social distancing, track COVID-19 outbreaks



Eatonville High School in Eatonville, Washington, is reportedly requiring its student-athletes to wear ankle monitors as a condition of participating in team sports, the Post Millennial reported.

What are the details?

One unnamed mother told the Post Millennial that her daughter had only just arrived at volleyball team practice when she received a text message revealing that the team coach was asking her child to put on an ankle monitor.

"The teen did not answer the mother's follow up texts or calls," the outlet's Ari Hoffmann wrote. "The mother assumed she was playing during practice and attempted to contact the school via phone. No one at the school was able to answer her questions about the monitor, so she drove to the building."

When she arrived at the school, the mother said that she encountered an employee in the school office, who reportedly told her that there was a meeting held the previous week discussing the "ankle monitoring program."

The program, the staffer reportedly told the mother, was intended for contact tracing in the event of any student's positive COVID-19 test.

The coach also reportedly told the mother that use of the device was intended to inform players when they were not distanced enough, and was only reportedly intended for use at indoor practice. The coach also added that the school reportedly handed out opt-out forms during the previous week's meeting, but the unnamed mom said that she never received any such forms, nor was she ever made aware of such a program.

According to the outlet, the device used by the school was reportedly manufactured by a company called Triax. The company website states that the monitoring bracelet was conceived in order to maintain social distancing guidelines. The device, according to the outlet, provides a "visual and audible alarm" so that any individual, who may come into unnecessarily close contact with another person, will "know when to adjust their current distance to a proper social distance."

EXCLUSIVE: Washington public school forces unvaccinated teens to wear ankle monitors@thehoffather for… https://t.co/J9LlmWFljJ

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The devices, according to the outlet, were not mentioned in the school's updated 2021-22 school year policies.

Parent Jason Ostendorf is also angry over the practice.

He told the News Tribune that students have enough to deal with these days amid a global pandemic.

"It's just one more thing they're doing to the kids through this whole COVID thing," he insisted. "The vaccine, now be tracked when you're at practice. Where does this end? I feel like this is an experiment on our kids to see how much we can put them through before they start breaking."

Ostendorf added that he was told if he refused to sign the permission slip, his children would not be permitted to play on team sports.

"My son has played football since he was in third grade," he said. "He's passionate about the sport. ... I signed it reluctantly. It's either that or he doesn't play. ... It's not optional. If you don't sign the waiver, they don't get to play. You have no choice in the matter. ... Above all, they're putting tracking devices on my kid."

What now?

In a statement to the Post Millennial, school board director Matt Marshall told the outlet that the school has decided to stop using the devices "until proper procedures including community input and board approval process occur."

Eatonville School District Superintendent Gary Neal also spoke out about the controversy and said that the monitors were not intended to segregate the student population.

"We received grant funding (known as ESSER III) that specifically included provisions to support higher-risk athletic programs, and we used some of those funds to pay for athletic proximity monitors," Neal said.

"We are using these monitors for high contact and moderate indoor contact sports. The monitors are for both staff (coaches) and students on the field, regardless if they are vaccinated or unvaccinated. If a student or coach tests positive, we will have immediate information regarding athletes' and coaches' contacts, so we can more tightly determine who might need to quarantine," he continued, sharing the same language posted on the school's online FAQ page.

A spokesperson for the district told the Daily Dot that the program is "entirely opt-in" and requires signed permission slips from parents and that monitors are for vaccinated and unvaccinated students alike.

Tennessee college to charge unvaccinated students a $1,500 'Health & Safety fee'



Starting with the fall semester, a college in Memphis, Tennessee, plans to charge students who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine $1,500 per semester as part of a "Health & Safety Fee."

Rhodes College announced the policy in a Student Life letter issued last week, in which it explained that the charge is intended to "cover the costs of mandatory testing," Campus Reform reported.

Upon returning to campus, vaccinated students will not be subject to initial or regular asymptomatic testing, nor will they be required to wear masks or socially distance. However, unvaccinated students will be required to quarantine upon arrival, wear masks, practice social distancing, and complete weekly testing for the coronavirus.

Also, "depending on campus positivity rates," the letter stated, "non-vaccinated students may not be permitted to participate in certain campus events and activities including Athletics, clubs and intramurals, and student organizations."

Students are permitted to apply for medical or religious exemption requests so long as they are submitted by August for review. International students who do not have access to the vaccine will also be directed to a vaccine clinic once they arrive on campus.

The school's website states that Rhodes is planning to require all students, faculty, and staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccine once the U.S. Food and Drug Administration grants it official approval. As of now, the FDA has granted certain vaccines Emergency Use Authorization.

Until then, "Rhodes is strongly recommending faculty, staff, and students get the vaccine in anticipation of FDA approval," the website notes.

During an interview with WREG-TV, Rhodes College Vice President for Student Life Meghan Weyant said that while testing was free for students in the spring semester, the college expects students to get inoculated as more vaccines become available.

"As we prepare to welcome our returning students home and the largest incoming class in Rhodes history, we believe a campus-wide commitment to vaccination will really allow us to do our part in getting our students back on campus for the academic experience that we know they so much want," she explained.

Weyant added that the school has not received much pushback from students over its stance on campuswide vaccinations.

"The response has been positive," she said. "[Students] want to be back on campus doing the things that they are so excited to do as part of the college experience and so they very much recognize that this is the best and safest way to do that."